Google & Facebook Not Challenging Trump's New Travel Ban

Google, Facebook, and Apple are some of the biggest names in the Silicon Valley that chose not to challenge President Trump's new travel ban that he signed earlier this week. The three companies weren't among 58 tech giants that co-signed a legal brief against the travel ban that was filed with a federal court in Hawaii on Tuesday. President Trump's original ban was opposed by a similar brief in early February, though that document was signed by 127 Silicon Valley-based companies. Both briefs were seeking to block the travel bans they've been opposing, which ultimately ended up happening.

Apart from the aforementioned trio, Microsoft, Intel, Netflix, Twitter, and eBay also didn't sign the latest legal brief against Trump's efforts to suspend immigration from six Middle Eastern countries despite the fact that all of them co-signed the document that was opposing the original ban. The U.S. tech giants that did sign the latest legal brief against President Trump's travel ban include the likes of Dropbox, Kickstarter, and Airbnb. Despite having less support, the legal brief filed on Tuesday may achieve its goals as Judge Derrick Watson from Honolulu suspended the controversial executive order yesterday. The 45th U.S. President criticized the decision and labeled it as an "unprecedented judicial overreach."

The U.S. tech industry traditionally relied on foreign workers more than other sectors, which is why most industry watchers and politicians weren't surprised when the Silicon Valley fiercely opposed Trump's original ban. It's currently unclear what happened in the meantime, though some companies who officially withdrew their support told Reuters that their positions on the issue haven't changed. Just like before, the current U.S. administration is claiming that the controversial travel ban was meant to protect the country from terrorism and is just a temporary measure designed to buy them enough time to come up with a stricter procedure for vetting immigrants. Critics of the ban claim that the measure will negatively reflect on the country's economy and stifle innovation, while some of them are even saying that President Trump's efforts to suspend immigration from certain countries are unconstitutional. An update on the situation is expected to follow in the coming days.

Dominik started at AndroidHeadlines in 2016 and is the Head Editor of the site today. He’s approaching his first full decade in the media industry, with his background being primarily in technology, gaming, and entertainment. These days, his focus is more on the political side of the tech game, as well as data privacy issues, with him looking at both of those through the prism of Android. Contact him at [email protected]